Peace of Mind Organizing

Enter to win a copy of Soulful Simplicity

25 January 2018

Courtney Carver’s excellent new book, Soulful Simplicity: How Living with Less Can Lead to So Much More came out a month ago, on December 26. That day, I published a Q&A with Courtney about the book and her journey.

Soulful Simplicity is my favorite in the simplicity/minimalism genre. It’s heartfelt, wise and inspiring. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that I’ve been following Courtney’s Project 333 minimalist clothing challenge for a year and a half. So she has quite literally inspired me to simplify my life.

Giveaway!

Courtney’s publisher has sent me a hardcover copy of Soulful Simplicity to give away to one lucky reader. To enter, post a comment below about why you need to read this book. After you’ve entered with a comment, you may get additional entries by tweeting about the giveaway (be sure and use @janinea in the tweet, so that I see it) and/or writing on the wall or commenting at the Peace of Mind Organizing Facebook page. The contest ends at 11 pm, central time, on Wednesday, January 31. I’ll use the Random Number Generator to pick the winner and I’ll announce the winner’s name on Friday, February 2.

Staying comfortable and productive

22 January 2018

I recently shared some tips with Tommy John about staying comfortable throughout the day and was included in this infographic they produced. Tommy John is known for (among other things) their boxer briefs for men, and the infographic cleverly ties in the comfort of their product with productivity, using the slogan, “Adjust your business, not your underwear.” I was one of four productivity bloggers whose tips were included in the infographic. Check it out:

I love seeing productivity tied into an underwear campaign!

Postal rates going up next week

15 January 2018

It might be time to stock up on Forever stamps! This week you can buy a one-ounce first-class Forever stamp for 49 cents. But come January 21, the same stamp will cost 50 cents. According to this article on stamps.com, the price of mailing a postcard will also go up a penny, to 35 cents.

While perusing the stamps selection on the U.S. Postal Service website, I spotted a beautiful new Love stamp (pictured above) that is not yet issued. (It will come out on January 18.) I was pleased to see that I could pre-order it for 49 cents. So I’m going to do that, because spreading love on my letters seems like a great idea. And why not save a penny a stamp?

Saving money on Disney travel

11 January 2018

Last June, I ran a guest post from my friend and former organizing colleague, Julie Hough of Enjoy Mouse Travel about the benefits of working with a Disney Vacation Planner. Julie helps people get the most out of their Disney trip by using her knowledge and amazing organizing skills to plan the trip for her clients. Her services are paid for by Disney, not the client. So if you have an upcoming trip to Disney, by all means call her at 636-399-9725 or email her at julie@enjoymousetravel.com and let her suggest and arrange for an amazing, stress-free trip. Julie is one of my favorite people in the world and I promise you that working with her will be a joy. She absolutely loves Disney.

The reason I’m posting this today is that Julie was our local Fox affiliate last week talking about five ways to save money on a Disney trip. These simple ideas add up to an amazing $1400 savings for a family of four on a week-long Disney trip. So if you’re Disney oriented, watch this video! Then call Julie for your next trip.

I'm in Secrets of Getting Organized magazine!

8 January 2018

I am thrilled to be a part of the new (early spring 2018) issue of Secrets of Getting Organized magazine from Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest Publications!

This beautiful magazine is chock full of really great organizing ideas (and beautiful photographs—it’s truly organizing eye candy). I was one of a dozen professional organizers from around the country who were interviewed for the magazine, and I’m quoted in three of the articles (Stop Paper Pileups, Goal: Conquer Media Room Clutter, and a kitchen-organizing article called In the Zone). The 96-page magazine is free of ads and full of great advice. I encourage you to pick up a copy wherever you buy magazines. It will remain on the newsstands until March 25.

Here’s the cover. Isn’t it lovely?

Making space in your closet: a new e-course

5 January 2018

I’m really excited that my friend, Dacy Gillespie of mindful closet, has created a live e-course that can help you make space in your closet and time in your life for more enjoyable things than getting dressed. Dacy has worked one-on-one with over 200 personal styling clients to help them minimize their wardrobes and shop mindfully. (Can you see why we’re friends?)

This course, called Making Space, will take you through the step-by-step system that she uses so successfully with clients: defining your style, editing, overcoming common stumbling blocks, and creating a mindful shopping list. The course is presented in the form of PDFs, videos, a private Facebook group for discussion and a weekly live Facebook Q&A. By the end the course, Dacy says you’ll have a closet that contains only things you love and wear. I’ve been experiencing that for over a year and it’s a wonderful thing.

The course is four weeks long. Every Sunday, you’ll receive an email with the class for the week. In each class, there is a video to watch, workbook exercises to complete, and homework for you to do in your closet. There will also be a private Facebook group where you can share about your progress with the other class members and interact with Dacy. Every Thursday at 7pm cst, she’ll do a Facebook Live session in the private group to answer any specific questions that may have come up for you during the week’s work.

The course starts on January 14 and there are a limited number of spaces available. It goes up for sale today and if you sign up before January 8, you’ll receive a $50 discount. So the price from January 5 to 8 is $147 and it goes up to $197 on January 9. I think that sounds like an amazing, cost-effective way to create a closet that brings you peace instead of tension!

For more information, and to sign up, go to the Making Space page. (This is an affiliate link, which means that Dacy will give me a commission if you sign up. But I would have publicized this great course anyway.)

Please comment here if you take the course. I’d love to know how you like it!

Taking the time for yearly planning

28 December 2017

The Central Library

I love this week between Christmas and January 1. I’ve always been inspired to organize and plan during this special week. Yesterday I took a whole day to focus on my goals for the coming year. I call it a personal retreat.

In order to stay focused on this, I knew I needed to get out of the house. So I planned a little itinerary, so I could shift locations as I shifted my planning focus or activity.

• I started out at my neighborhood coffee shop;
• I moved to the restaurant of the Missouri Botanical Garden (where I worked in PR decades ago);
• I then drove to the beautiful Central Library branch of the St. Louis Public Library.

I didn’t need any library resources (beyond wifi). I just wanted to be in beautiful, quiet surroundings. At the library I worked in two different rooms; those two mini-sessions were divided by a quick bite in the library’s cafe. Let’s pause for a moment to appreciate how cool it is that the library has a cafe!

I prepared for the day by getting up to date on my financials, so I could compare this year with prior years. And I also took the time on Tuesday to create a list of accomplishments for 2017. I do that every year and it’s a really fulfilling activity. It’s so easy to forget the great things that happen in the year and focus on less-great happenings or those things that didn’t happen at all. I also created a list in Evernote of what I hoped to accomplish by the end of the retreat day.

On retreat day, I packed my tote bag for my various locations. The tools I used included my laptop (primarily I used Evernote, Word, Quickbooks and Numbers) as well as my mind-mapping notebook, which I used to brainstorm ideas with myself and to also review the year’s mind maps. (I tend to use mind mapping when I’m trying to puzzle out a problem.) I took along some lined paper as well as a smaller unlined spiral notebook. And I took pens of various colors and thicknesses. I loved having an abundance of tools at my disposal so I could choose what I wanted to use as I shifted gears.

One of the first things I did was take a look at the goals I’d come up with at last year’s retreat. They were divided into four categories, all of which are important to me: Peace of Mind Organizing, Organize Your Family History (my genealogy website), genealogy research, and personal/family. I did a good job of achieving those goals in some areas and fell short in others.

I consulted this year’s goals as I crafted last year’s goals. I noodled around some ideas I’d been thinking about for a few months and I came to a few conclusions. And I wrote some concrete action steps for achieving my goals, as well as some habits I thought would support achieving the goals.

One thing I just realized I didn’t do yesterday, but which I usually do, is come up with my Word of the Year for next year. I actually did think of one last week (Spaciousness), but I would like to take myself through Christine Kane’s Word of the Year Discovery Tool to make sure that Spaciousness is right. (In 2017 my word was Fearless and it was helpful!) I’ll do that this week.

For me, taking a solid day to think about the coming year and reflect on the past year is one of favorite end-of-the-year activities. I’m hopeful it will pay great dividends!

Edited to add: After going through the Discovery Tool, I ended up choosing Connection as my Word of the Year!